Case Number 00001

AMERICAN HISTORY X

The Charge

Some legacies must end.

Opening Statement

American History X is a powerful and thought provoking drama that
works on many levels. New Line has done a fine job with this presentation. I
just wish they had felt it worthy of their usually spectacular Platinum Edition
treatment.

The Evidence

This anamorphic transfer from the folks at New Line measures up to their
typical efforts, which is to say marvelous. The film itself employs the usage of
black and white footage to represent flashbacks and does so rather effectively.
It marks a clear delineation between the present and the past. But it is more
than that as well. It clearly represents Derek's prejudicial beliefs during
those times in the past, since he saw everything then as black and white in a
racial sense. New Line handles both the black and white and color portions of
this film in a beautiful way. Edges are clean and crisp with none of the
softness inherent in other non-anamorphic transfers. Colors were deep and rich
and there was no over- or under-saturation of the images depending on lighting
keys. Really top notch, which is, I guess what we have come to expect from New
Line.

Edward Norton received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of
Derek Vinyard in this film, and it was rightly deserved. His performance is top
notch and he continues to display the talents that make him one of the best
actors you may not know. Edward Furlong gives another excellent performance as
well as Derek's younger brother Danny. For a young man who harbored no thoughts
of an acting career until he was discovered and cast in Terminator 2, he has
developed quite a string of diverse roles and a nice career in the process.

The supporting cast does a fine job as well, including standout performances
by Avery Brooks (Star Trek: Deep Space 9), Fairuza Balk (The
Craft), Beverly D'Angelo (The National Lampoon Vacation series),
Stacey Keach, and Elliott Gould. One last standout worth mentioning is Jennifer
Lien who plays Derek's sister Davina. She looked very familiar to me, but I
could not place her. It turns out she played the part of Kes on Star Trek:
Voyager. Hopefully this role will open some more doors for her, as she did a
rather splendid job with what little was written for the role. A memorable
performance.

This movie will almost surely mean quite a bit more feature film work for
director Tony Kaye, who is best known for his commercials and music videos, and
first time feature writer David McKenna.

The extras on the disc were a bit sparse, unfortunately. They included three
deleted scenes, a theatrical trailer, and talent bios and filmos. The major
difference between New Line and most other studios is that when they tend to go
all out. As a result, the filmographies on the talent were extensive and
complete. I mean a complete list of every film and television work for each
major player, including the writer, and director. The one oversight was the
absence of Ms. Lien's history. But, again it was a fairly small role and so was
understandably overlooked.

The key to this whole film, though, was clearly the story. I'm going to
uncharacteristically include some spoilers here so feel free to skip the
remainder of this paragraph if you like. The story revolves around Derek Vinyard
(Norton). The director skillfully weaves between three major sub-stories: what
drove Derek to become a skinhead, Derek's rise in the local skinhead gang and
the actions which land him in jail, and Derek's reform from the skinhead
movement along with his fight to save his younger brother Danny (Furlong) from
traveling down the same path he has just traveled. Along the way we are treated
to some very specific actions which lead Derek to a state of confusion about his
skinhead brothers. Thankfully, the story does not take any easy outs with a
simple happy ending. Rather, the ending of the film will probably have you
thinking much more than the rest of the story. By demonizing a black teenager at
the end of the film, the director almost tempts you to sympathize with the
skinhead movement even though Derek seems to have fully abandoned the gospel of
hate he embraced earlier in the film. In any event, you will not walk away from
this film unmoved. I can guarantee that.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

My only complaint with this disc is that New Line did not offer it up as part
of their excellent Platinum Edition series. I would have really like to hear
several commentaries on this film, especially by the director, writer, Edward
Norton, Edward Furlong, and many others. The extras given us were quite good, I
just would have liked to see more. Especially given the significance of this
film.

Closing Statement

If you have not yet seen this film, do so. Rent it, buy it, or borrow it. It
is worth seeing and in my view, worth seeing more than once.